


Thank the Watchmaker

by ThatMadHatter



Series: Writings on the Wall [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Because I can, Clint and Tasha are totally bros, Deaf Clint Barton, Fix all the wrongs, M/M, Other, Phil and Tasha are kinda bros, Rewriting the Avengers, Strike Team Delta, The Author Regrets Nothing, Worried Coulson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2018-09-20 03:45:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9473954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatMadHatter/pseuds/ThatMadHatter
Summary: “Natasha. Barton’s been compromised.” Phil’s voice did not hitch slightly at the word compromised. He was fucking Agent Phil Coulson. His voice did not betray emotion. Even when telling his boyfriend’s best friend that said boyfriend was compromised.Or the one where Phil and Clint are together before The Avengers and the author rewrites things with that in mind.





	1. Compromised

**Author's Note:**

> Tags to be added as chapters are posted to avoid spoilers.

“Natasha. Barton’s been compromised.” Phil’s voice did _not_ hitch slightly at the word compromised. He was fucking Agent Phil Coulson. His voice did not betray emotion. Even when telling his boyfriend’s best friend that said boyfriend was compromised.

“Let me put you on hold.”

A small part of Phil’s constricted heart loosened. Not that he hadn’t expected Natasha to come in, but he knew she ought to prioritize the mission over a personal problem. Of course, the other third of Strike Team Delta being compromised would prioritize over a lot of things. Her mission was only intel gathering and it could wait.

Phil could hear the grunts and slams of the Black Widow taking down her “captors”. He would admit to a slight amusement at her words earlier. “I’m in the middle of an interrogation. This moron is giving me everything.”

Thirty seconds later she was back on the line. “Where’s Barton now?”

“We don’t know.”

“But he’s alive.” There wasn’t a question in her voice. Barton was alive, otherwise she wouldn’t be called in.

“We think so. I’ll brief you on everything when you get back. But first, we need you to talk to the big guy.”

“Coulson, you know that Stark trusts me about as far as he can throw me.”

“Oh, I’ve got Stark. You get the big guy.” And Phil was actually grateful that Natasha got that big guy. Phil probably didn’t have the temperament to try and handle the Hulk right now.

She paused to breathe out in her native tongue. “Bozhe moi.”

“We have a Quinjet five minutes out.”

“What am I supposed to do, threaten him and hope that the Hulk won’t smash my pretty face?” Natasha wasn’t thrilled with being the one tasked to bring in a man who would very much not want to be brought in by SHIELD.

“You’ll persuade him. We don’t need the Hulk, we need Dr. Banner. There’s a full debrief waiting for you.” Natasha padded down the stairs to the ground level in her bare feet. “As well as a full change of clothes.”

“You’re too kind.” Natasha purred. “We exactly is Dr. Banner?”

“Calcutta. It appears he’s been helping the locals with some medical care.”

“How charitable.” Natasha pushed through the door to the outside. The warehouse district she was in was entirely deserted, but she could see the Quinjet approaching from the west.

“Indeed.” Phil paused for a moment before saying, “Tasha.”

“We will find him.” Natasha said immediately. She knew the nickname that Phil had picked up from Clint was a sign of just how much this was effecting Coulson. “We’re prepared for this.” The Quinjet was touching down in front of her now, ramp lowering. She walked towards it. “My ride’s here.”

“Good hunting Agent.” Phil’s tone slid back to the professional Agent Phil Coulson voice. They both knew the stakes. Natasha closed the flip phone and tossed it aside before boarding the plane.

 

Phil took a moment after she hung up to draw in a deep breath. Natasha was on this. They would gather the people he hoped to one day call the Avengers and they would find Clint.

“She’s on board the jet.” He said, turning to look up at Director Fury. He was standing at his view-screens, looking over the refueling measures that were taking place with a careful eye. With any luck, the helicarrier would be in the air within twenty-four hours.

“Good. Now go get some shut eye.”

“I still have-“

“You have been awake since before we got the initial warning from Barton that something was wrong at project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Yesterday.” Fury turned his good eye on Coulson. “Six hours of rack time Agent. And you’re gonna eat a full meal. Go.”

Fury’s tone left no room for discussion. Logically, Phil knew he needed rest, even if there was more work to be done. He would be able to do better work with some sleep and a sandwich. Wasn’t it meatball day in the cafeteria?

“You will call me if there’s an update.” Coulson instructed. Fury didn’t respond to an insubordinate telling him what to do, just returned to his screens.

Phil turned away and headed towards the cafeteria. Ten minutes to eat and then he would go sleep. He set a six hour timer on his phone. He’d be damned if he wasted a minute not searching for Clint on a cheap meatball sub. Of course, those subs were one of Clint’s favorite SHIELD cafeteria offerings.

He tried not to think about that as he grabbed a sandwich and package of swiss rolls. Normally he would have eaten either in the cafeteria or at his desk, but instead he took his food to the quarters reserved for himself, Clint, and Natasha.

The room was small. There was enough space for two long twin beds and a small table with two chairs. It should have been a space for two individuals. Instead, the three of them had claimed it as a unit. It was rare for all three to be on the helicarrier at once, and if that was the case they never all slept at the same time.

There were a few personal touches from each one in the room. A hidden arrow here, a knife there. Someone’s trashy romance novel, which none of them would admit to reading. Most people wouldn’t know that this room belonged to a team of three. But when Phil walked in, his eyes drew to one of Clint’s SHIELD vests in the open closet. To anyone else it would have just been another article of clothing. To Phil, it was a piece of the man he needed. He blinked away from it and set the food on the aluminum table.

He pulled off his blue and white striped tie and dark navy jacket, dropping them onto the second bed. Nearly forty hours without sleep. He had gone longer without it before, but not under circumstances like these. This was grating. It reminded Phil of when Clint had refused to kill the Black Widow. But even then Phil had known it was Clint making those choices. This was something else entirely. He couldn’t even imagine what the fall-out might be.

As he ate, Phil let himself examine what had happened at P.E.G.A.S.U.S.

 

Clint had radio’d him roughly forty seconds before Selvig had registered the power surge. “Something’s wrong, sir.”

“What do you see?”

“I don’t know.” That admission was enough to concern Phil. Clint saw everything with eery understanding and accuracy. He wasn’t called Hawkeye for nothing. Phil started moving towards the door just before a low rumble vibrated the coffee cup on his desk. Phil was at least six floor above the lab with the Tesseract.

“Report.” Phil was already in motion.

“The Tesseract is awake.” Clint murmured. “There was some kind of power surge, and not on this end.” His eyes flew from screen to screen, taking in information he didn’t really understand but making note of it anyway. He didn’t have to understand it to repeat it later if necessary. “Selvig didn’t do this.”

“ETA 60 seconds.” Phil responded. “Stay in the nest.” He moved down the hall to the elevator.

“Like I’d move.” Clint snorted. “I’m not getting any closer to that thing than necessary.”

“Selvig said the radiation isn’t harmful.”

“Gamma radiation Coulson. I don’t want to turn green.”

And Phil couldn’t argue with that. Clint knew just about everything Phil did about the various possible members of the Avengers Initiative. And the Hulk wasn’t exactly a secret from the general populace. Although, how Clint knew it was gamma radiation... Phil stored that information away for a later time.

Ten minutes and a brief argument with Selvig later, Coulson called Fury. Five minutes after that, the second shockwave rattled through the building. Selvig called for the power to be cut. It made no difference, the Tesseract remained awake and occasionally shooting small sparks of energy at people who got too close.

Fury got onto a helicopter and Phil began the evacuation procedures. Before going back up to the main floors he stopped at the bottom of the rope leading to Clint’s nest. He didn’t have to ask, Clint slid back down the rope to quietly report on all of the scientists. He thought Selvig was odd but harmless. Clint didn’t think the Tesseract was harmless.

“We’re messing with something we don’t understand. What if whatever’s on the other side does understand?” Clint whispered.

“It’s too late. The Council is pushing phase two.”

“We haven’t even properly begun phase one.” Clint argued.

“Barton.” Phil warned, voice taking on a slight edge. Neither of them had any say in that, and Clint knew it.

“Sorry, sir.” He apologized, ducking his head slightly.

“I have to oversee the evacuation. Director Fury is flying in now. I want you to keep watch here.” Phil glanced around before ducking his voice down. “Stay safe. Keep on the comms.”His hand itched to touch Clint’s face and kiss him.

But not at work. That was how they kept this thing together. A clear separation.

Still, Clint could see the impulse in Phil’s eyes. He placed himself so it looked like he was pausing on his way to get back up into the nest. Right arm pressed against Phil for just a moment. They both paused before simultaneously moving to complete the mission.

 

*

 

 _This guy is ill_. That was Clint’s first thought upon seeing Loki. Sweat seeped from his pores, the circles under his eyes were tainted green, and even with his less than 100% hearing, Clint could hear the raggedness of each inhale. The first shot of energy was directed towards Fury, and as Clint pushed him out of the way he struck that original thought. This guy was dangerous. And fucking fast.

Hawkeye’s first shots went for a double tap to the chest. This guy’s leather outfit was apparently bulletproof. He dodged out of the way again from a blast

He rose, gun in hand, ready to take a headshot, but the guy with the spear was already in front of him, snagging Clint’s left wrist with an unbelievable strength.

“You have heart.” He rasped.

What the fuck did that mean?

And then Clint didn’t think anymore. The spear-like weapon tapped him, initially he thought it was going to pierce his chest, but it stopped and a cool haze of blue overtook his vision. It dissipated enough for him to look at the man. _Loki._ A voice supplied. _Laufeyson._ The voice had knowledge. It did all his thinking for him.

Loki smiled, and Clint exhaled, holstering his weapon. He served Loki now.

 _No. You serve me._ The voice echoed in his head. The voice was vaguely feminine, and somehow Clint knew that it was the Tesseract. For a few moments, he honed in on the voice. A presence blanketing his mind, the edges of his vision tainted blue. “ _Pay attention Soldier._ ” The Tessaract directed him back to the exchange in front of him.

“Please don’t. I still need that.”

As Loki and Fury exchanged barbs, Clint let his focus bounce between them.

“You planning to step on us?” Clint’s instinct to move to Fury’s side suddenly made an appearance. He needed to defend humanity. That’s not what Loki wanted.

“ _You will serve him._ ” The Tesseract quashed the instinct. “ _And you’re missing something Hawkeye._ ”

His eyes flicked up to the leftover Tesseract energy at the top of the silo.

“Sir. Director Fury is stalling.” Clint moved forward. The two warring sides of his mind both agreed. They needed to move out. The Tesseract directed him to stand at Loki’s side. “This place is about to blow. Drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us.”

“Like the Pharoh’s of old.”

“He’s right. The portal is collapsing in on itself. We’ve got maybe two minutes before this goes critical.”

“Well then…” Loki looked at Clint.

To the outside, Clint didn’t hesitate as he shot Fury. But the war in his mind slowed that moment down to an eon. Loki wanted a kill shot. Every part of Clint said not to kill him. His arm came up, he pulled the trigger.

Luckily he knew that Fury was a paranoid bastard and wore a vest at all times. Rumor had it he showered in the damn thing. He immediately moved to grab the case, Fury ought to know to stay down, but if anyone got close right away they might notice the lack of blood. The others were already moving towards the door, trusting that Hawkeye never missed.

He never did.

As Clint moved with the other three through the almost entirely empty compound a thought came to mind.

Where was Phil?

Had his body been in his control, he might have clenched a fist or tightened the muscles at the top of his shoulders. But the Tesseract was in full control now. He recognized that he, Slevig, and the other captured SHIELD agent were moving at nearly the same exact pace, even as they fell behind him so he could lea them to the garage. Loki staggered a few times, each time one of them helped him back up.

If they crossed paths with Phil… It was bad enough shooting Fury. And Phil wasn’t wearing a vest under his suit. Clint had laughed at him when Phil brought up that maybe he ought to.

 

“You’re in one of the most heavily protected SHIELD sites, smack in the middle of the desert.”

“It never hurts to be prepared.” Phil responded, shrugging on his dress shirt anyway, no vest.

Clint was still in bed, watching Phil dress with a small grin. Technically he was in Phil’s quarters on the base. Nobody had mentioned yet that he never seemed to sleep in his own. “I’ll protect you.” He said. He’d intended it to be playful. Phil protected his back just as much as Clint protected Phil’s.

But still Phil’s eyes cut back to him. He stopped two buttons short from the top to walk back to the bed. He slid up ontop of Clint so he was straddling the archer’s admirable torso. Clint’s grin quirked up even more as he skidded a hand over the planes of Phil’s chest. The dress shirt hid the muscles well, but Clint knew they were there.

It can’t be said who kissed the other. They moved towards each other instinctively, lips parted slightly. It wasn’t a burning kiss, but it did speak of a long time of intimacy. They might have only been sleeping together for a year, but they’d been working together for eight.

“And I protect you.” Phil finally said before getting up to finish dressing.  


 

Clint couldn’t protect Phil right now. He had no control. He should not have been grateful when they came through the doors to find Maria Hill standing near the trucks.

“Need these vehicles.” He said, walking to the driver’s seat.

“Who’s that?”

“He didn’t tell me.” Clint answered, which was technically true. He couldn’t exactly say. “This is Loki from Asgard.” And expect to be able to leave peacefully. Maybe they could get away without having to engage Hill. She turned away just as her radio crackled with Fury’s voice.

Clint gave her an extra second before he turned to shoot. She was already tucked behind the pillar, but he continued to shoot anyway, warning her to stay under cover. He slid into the driver’s seat and tried to let himself be grateful that it wasn’t Phil. He hadn’t hurt Phil, he would get out before the building came down.

 


	2. Gathering

 

Twelve hours after sending Black Widow after the Hulk, Coulson was pulling up in front of Stark Tower. The lights were currently off in the tall building. Even so, JARVIS let him into Stark’s personal garage. Coulson put his 1962 Chevrolet Corvette into park next to one of Tony’s luxury vehicles, not resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the ostentatious collection of Audie R8’s.

At least he knew nothing would scratch Lola down here. As Coulson pulled out his phone to dial Stark, an electric hum filled the air. Good, it appeared the miniature arc reactor for the building was working. Coulson slid out of Lola, closing her door softly. The tablet he needed to give Stark rested on the back seat. He checked the indicator on the side before tucking it under his arm.

“Hello Agent Coulson.” JARVIS answered Tony’s line.

“Hello JARVIS. Please put me through to Iron Man.” Coulson knew better than to treat JARVIS without manners.

“I’m afraid Mr. Stark is busy at the moment.” JARVIS responded.

“He just landed on the pad at the top of the building.” Coulson strode to the elevator that would take him to the Penthouse. “He’s here. And I need to speak with him.”

“I have been instructed to cut this line.” JARVIS ended the call. Coulson pulled the phone away to look at it for a moment.

“Mr. Stark is unaware that you are presently in the building.” JARVIS spoke from the hidden speakers in the ceiling and the doors to the elevator opened. Coulson smiled to himself. Trust JARVIS to do exactly as Stark instructed, while also doing what was needed. He stepped inside and dialed Tony again. As the doors closed he heard the sound of empty air that signaled Tony could hear him.

“Stark we need to talk.” Coulson instructed. He didn’t have to push a button for the penthouse. The elevator rose automatically, directed by JARVIS.

“You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message.” Coulson rolled his eyes again. He had the thought that maybe he should have offered to let Natasha do this.

“This is urgent.”

“Then leave it urgently.”

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Coulson slid his phone back into his jacket pocket as he walked in.

“Security breach. That’s on you.” Stark was evidently trying to get rid of Coulson as quickly as possible. Coulson glanced at Pepper and could make an educated guess as to why. There was a small part of him that was thrilled to be ruining an evening for the irritating engineer.

“Phil! Come in.” Pepper stood to greet Coulson. How Stark had managed to get this woman with impeccable taste and manners to love him, Coulson would never know. (He tried not to think about the fact that Tony was much like Clint and Pepper much like Phil in those terms. Although he was trying not to think about Clint at all right now.)

“Phil?”

“I can’t stay.” Coulson said, both to let Pepper know not to be disappointed by a quick exit and in hope that it would mean Stark would hear him out quickly.

“Uh, His first name is Agent.” Stark pointed at Coulson accusingly.

“We’re celebrating.” Pepper informed Coulson, smiling.

“Which is why he can’t stay.” Stark forced a mask of a smile that was not meant to actually fool anyone.

“We need you to look this over as soon as possible.” Coulson held out the file. Stark looked down at it like it might open up and swallow him.

“I don’t like being handed things.” He glibbed.

“That’s alright.” Pepper smiled, clearly this was an everyday conversation for her. “Cause I love to be handed things. So, let’s trade.”

 

*

 

A few minutes later Pepper had successfully convinced Tony to do his homework. She joined Phil on the elevator down. “I was hoping to see her play.” Pepper said as they traveled back down to the garage. Phil had mentioned Audrey at one of their little meetings for drinks and she had been fascinated by the cellist that was his childhood best friend.

“She’s in the Portland Symphony Orchestra. I’m sure you can find time to get out there sometime.”

“Hmmm. Still, it’s a shame. Did you ever tell her about your secret boyfriend?”

Phil hadn’t meant to tell Pepper that Audrey had no idea that he was dating a man. It had sort-of slipped after one scotch too many. Pepper didn’t know who the man was, just that he worked with Phil, so he preferred to keep his relationship quiet. And not just because they were too men. SHIELD policy wasn’t actually a problem for them, it happened too often for there to be rules against it. And Peggy Carter had insisted on people having the right to choose their own medical and personal beneficiaries, regardless of marriage or sex.

But since the death of both his parents, Audrey was Phil’s last family member. They had even dated in high school before going their separate ways at college. Somehow he’d never found a way to tell her that he was bisexual and had been dating a man for almost a year now.

Pepper found all of this fascinating. Or she pretended to.

“It’s two thousand and twelve, Phil.”

“And gay marriage is not legal.” Phil countered. “Especially not where Audrey and I are from.”

The doors opened to reveal the garage. Phil led the way to Lola, Pepper hopped into the passenger seat. “It’s your life.” She said, buckling her seat belt.

Phil didn’t respond as he pulled out of the garage and onto the Manhattan street. “LaGuardia you said?” He asked after a minute.

“Can I meet him?” Pepper asked. She had a way of not letting things go. Normally it amused Phil. Tonight it just wore him down.

“If I get a chance, I’ll ask him.” He conceded. His tone said end of conversation. Pepper took the hint and switched to asking about the rumor that Captain America had been found alive.

Phil laughed. That was his next recruit.

 

*

 

After dropping Pepper at LaGuardia, Phil navigated through the late evening traffic to his apartment. He parked Lola in the nearby long-term garage. Something told him there wouldn’t be much time to take her out for a while.

He let himself into his apartment by scanning his hand and unlocking two deadbolts. SHIELD provided security upgrades for him when he became level 5 a few years ago. In theory nobody could get in without his express permission. Still, a certain pair of master assassins found their way onto his couch (or bed) every so-often.

Clint had been hanging around more and more lately. Enough that a part of Phil automatically checked the couch to see if he was snoring on it with a half eaten box of pizza on the coffee table.

Instead, the couch was empty. The purple afghan was neatly folded along the back and the only thing on the coffee table was a forgotten coffee mug. Phil took a long breath before moving through the living room towards his bedroom at the back of the apartment.

He pulled a few suits from his closet, if he was going to be spending an extended period of time on the hellicarrier again he would need more than one spare suit.

His phone buzzed, he pulled it to his ear after glancing at the I.D.

“Coulson.”

“Banner and I are en route to the carrier. Should be touching down in nine hours.” Natasha was successful then, good. If Banner could find the Tesseract, they would find Clint. Phil tried not to think of what finding him could mean. Clint had allied himself with an unknown _Godlike_ person. Shot Director Fury in the chest.

That fact was actually what gave Phil hope. Phil remembered his conversation with Clint earlier that day, Clint knew that Fury wore a vest at all times. Had he wanted to kill him, Clint would have taken the headshot.

So what was he playing at? Phil had seen the footage, the scepter Loki carried clearly had some kind of mind control effect on whoever it touched. Clint had lost control, but how much control? Was there a way to reverse the effects?

Too many questions. No answers.

“Coulson.” Natasha’s voice jostled him from his thoughts.

“Nine hours. I’ll be on the helicarier.” Coulson confirmed.

“No word?”

“None.”

“I’ll dangle some hooks in the water.”

“I’ve been fishing myself. There’s some movement from AIM. I would poke around there a bit if you can.”

“Copy. Where are you now?”

“Home. Fury has me running errands in New York. Picking up a childhood hero and recruiting a mad scientist.”

“Is Stark on board?”

“I delivered the homework. He’s not going to miss an opportunity to be a hero. Especially with Captain America involved.”

“You mean _despite_ Captain America. His opinion of the good captain is nothing like your fanboy crush Coulson.”

“I do not have a crush.” Phil blustered.

“Which is why Clint hid all your Captain America T-shirts in the vents.”

“He hid them. That means he intends to give them back at some point.”

“Or he was just afraid of your wrath.”

“I doubt Clint is afraid of anything from me.” Phil said softly.

Silence.

But comfortable silence. Natasha knew the change of Phil’s tone was a moment of weakness. He spent a few seconds mentally pulled himself back together.

“So Fury has you recruiting again?” Natasha broke the moment when she determined he has enough time.

“He’s living in a SHIELD Facility. Fury delivered his homework on paper last night. It doesn’t count as recruiting when all I’m doing is picking him up.”

 

*

 

The landing of the Quinjet relieved a little bit of the tension in Coulson’s back. Being around his childhood idol was a little disconcerting. He wanted to be excited, but it felt wrong to be excited with people dead and Clint in trouble. Maybe after all of this was over…

Who was he kidding? He worked for SHIELD. Life would always be like this.

Coulson and Captain America- Captain Rogers, he mentally corrected himself, made their way down the ramp onto the hellicarrier. Natasha approached calmly, timing perfect as always.

“Agent Romanoff. Captain Rogers.” Coulson made the introductions.

“Ma’am?” Captain Rogers dipped his head.

“Hi.” Natasha responded before turning her attention to Coulson. “They need you on the bridge. They’re starting the face trace.”

Coulson was already moving when he responded. “See you there.” He strode down to the bridge, junior agents jumping out of his way. “Director.” He greeted Fury as he stepped onto the bridge.

Fury pointed to a technician who was ready to begin the trace without looking up. Coulson stood over him to review the specifications. “Wrong hair color.” He noted.

“His file says blonde.” The technician said, flipping the screen to show Barton’s file detailing physical attributes. It was also missing a recent tattoo, but Coulson deemed that unnecessary to put on Barton’s level 2 access file. He did make a mental note to add that to his level 6 file.

“Which is technically correct, but he tends to dye it brown.” Coulson said. The technician swallowed and made the adjustment. Coulson nodded before slipping his comm into his ear, disguised as a bluetooth device. Natasha brought Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers onto the bridge. He exchanged a brief look with her before tapping three fingers to his comm.

She nodded imperceptibly to anyone else and a minute later calibrated her own comm unit. Hers was well hidden by her hair and the fact that it was much smaller. The channel was one Strike Team Delta often occupied. She left it open as she guided Bruce away from the bridge.

“You’re gonna love it Doc. You got all the toys.” Natasha said, guiding Bruce to his lab.

“No sightings. But there has been unusual activity in Europe.” Coulson said quietly, looking over some messages he had received when he sent feelers out over his network.

“What kind of activity are you hoping to find?” Natasha asked Bruce. Coulson almost smiled to himself. There was no reason to keep their conversation to herself, except that she liked to practice operating covertly whenever possible. Then again, if SHIELD made the call to eliminate Barton, maybe it would be a good thing if they didn’t know as much as Phil and Natasha.

“There’s been a decrease in mercenary hits and Red Room associates making public appearances.” Phil mused. He could hear Dr. Banner responding to Natasha’s question with something about frequency of Gamma rays.

“So it’s about inactivity as much as activity.” She answered both of them.

“Exactly.” Phil responded.

“Here you are Dr. Banner. Is there anything else you need?”

“Meet you in our quarters in five.” Phil said once Dr. Banner confirmed that he didn’t need anything else. He and Natasha needed to talk about what they wanted to do.

Four and a half minutes later Phil walked into his quarters. Natasha was sitting, cross-legged on the bed he had not slept in.

“What happened?” She asked after the door slid shut and Phil locked it.

“You read my report?” He asked, sliding his comm out to adjust the internal fit.

“On the way here with Banner. Barton called you?”

“Before anything happened.” Phil confirmed.

“What did he see?”

“He didn’t know. But he was right, something was wrong. Is wrong.”

Natasha stood. “What’s the plan?” Years of having Phil as her S.O. Trained her to know that he had a plan.

“We trust the system.” Phil said. “Or rather, I trust the system. The Black Widow might sneak about. Poke her head around.”

“Is this authorized?” She asked. Not that it would make any difference if it wasn’t.

“Yes. Level Seven clearance only. Strict need-to-know.” He confirmed. Natasha didn’t need to ask that meant only they needed to know. And the handful of people higher than a level seven would have to directly ask what she was doing. They were operating within SHIELD regulations. Barely.

Which was something Strike Team Delta was good at.

“I can throw out some sparks. See if anything catches fire.” She mused. She stepped towards Coulson, directly into his personal space. Had she been anyone else, he would have put them on the ground. Instead, he breathed her in. Without touching him, she offered a short of physical warmth and comfort for a few moments. He closed his eyes and took the safety she offered.

“You sleeping?” She asked. He opened his eyes.

“Are you?” He countered. The left side of her mouth quirked up.

“You know me. I can sleep while standing. And without Clint to harass me, why I sleep like a baby.” She purred.

“I’m going to tell him you said that.”

“Feel free. He’s a menace and he knows it.”

Phil resisted the urge to snort. Clint might be known to cause mischief at all hours of the day. Which might occasionally wake a certain Russian agent. But that was always pure coincidence.

Few people would be willing to risk the wrath of the Black Widow. Clint sought it out.

Natasha eyed him. “You look like crap.” She said softly. That wasn’t true. He looked just as put together as anyone else. Except Natasha could see the small crease in his forehead and the extra millisecond that it took for him to process anything. “Sleep for an hour. I’ll keep watch.” She offered.

“Too much to do.” Phil shook his head. “I need to get back to the bridge.”

“The face trace is running. There’s nothing you can do right now. Take an hour.” She wasn’t offering now, her voice took a slight edge. He might have been her SO, but she could command him right now.

Phil eyed the bed and loosened his tie. “One hour.” He said. “And if anything happens you wake me immediately.”

“Copy.” She said softly, taking a seat at the table and pulling a computer towards her. She didn’t watch as he toed off his shoes and lay down. As Phil laid down he wondered for a moment if he would even be able to sleep. He slipped onto his left side, watching Natasha work at the laptop. For a minute, he’s certain that he won’t sleep. But then something about her tapping fingers seemed like a lullaby and he let his shoulders relax…

Natasha woke him nearly two hours later with a murmured. “Phil.”

He woke instantly. “What is it?” He sat up, reaching for his shoes.

“They’ve found Loki.” She’s standing and moving out of the room. He followed, tugging his tie under his collar and retying it as he walked. “He’s in Germany. Wheels are up in five.”

Coulson slide his comm back in and checked in with Fury. “Do we have a location on Barton?”

 _“No. Just Loki. But he can’t be far.”_ Fury responded, not commenting on Coulson’s sudden appearance. _“Get to the bridge immediately._ ”

For a moment Coulson wanted to argue. He wanted to be on that Quinjet. But he isn’t a field agent anymore. The best way he could help was by being a voice in their ears.

“Find him.” He said to Natasha. She didn’t spare him a look, already moving to the hanger deck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are my own.


	3. Confined

_Slight warning about some non-con/ dubious consent elements. Nothing beyond kissing, and immediately resolved but the warning is still there._

  
*

 

“What did it show you, Agent Barton?” Loki turned to Clint.

“My next target.” Clint answered.

“What do you need?”

“I need a distraction. And an eyeball.” Clint outlined his plan to Loki, the Tesseract guiding his thoughts. After nearly an hour of explaining and adjusting, Loki agreed to implement the plan.

Clint grimaced upon standing. The batteries in his hearing aids were dying and he was starting to miss sounds. Loki looked up from the computer that Clint had been showing him images on. He approached Clint slowly, eyes narrowed as Clint fiddled with the controls.

“You are damaged.” Loki’s hands ghosted over Clint’s head, blue-green magic playing across his fingers.

“Since I was a kid. Dad liked to knock my head around. Then a couple of concussions in the circus, and working for SHIELD isn’t exactly quiet. I’m down to about eighteen percent hearing.” Clint opened his jaw to pop his ears, trying to alleviate some of the ache.

“Hmmm.” The god mused for a moment. The magic continued to play across his fingers for a few more moments before he pressed both palms over Clint’s ears.

 _Stay still._  The Tesseract murmured in his head. Clint didn’t move a fraction of an inch, even as the insides of his ears turned hot and it felt like searing liquid was moving down his neck. He drew a sharp breath when there was a pop and Loki’s hands came away from his head, holding the near invisible aids. Loki crushed them and Clint couldn’t help the gasp escaping his lips.

And that was when he realized he heard his own gasp. He heard Loki crush his hearing aids. The constant tinnitus from the aids was gone. Everything was clear. His jaw dropped as he looked up at Loki.

Loki watched for a moment before a smirk curled his features. “Better?” He mused. Clint swallowed before nodding. “Perfect.” Loki’s hand traced the edge of Clint’s jaw. “A fine Midgardian specimen.” There was something playing in his eyes. Clint wasn’t sure what it was until Loki’s hands tightened near his throat.

Oh. Well then. Clint didn’t resist as Loki pulled him up by his throat, effortlessly rising from his kneeling position. Still, Loki was more than a few inches taller than him, and Clint had to angle his face up to give the God of Mischief what he wanted.

Loki’s mouth was already open when he came down on Clint’s lips. Loki teased at Clint’s lower lip, demanding entry that Clint instinctually opened up to. His tongue ravaged Clint’s warm mouth for two seconds before Coulson’s face burst into Clint’s mind. The thought of Phil pushed at the blue blanket that surrounded Clint and he was able to bite down hard.

Blood burst into his mouth and Loki jerked back, looking simultaneously infuriated and aroused. A small trickle of blood leaked down the corner of his mouth.  He wiped it away and looked at his reddened fingers. Loki breathed heavily for a long moment before turning his eyes back up to Clint.

“You are already claimed.” He stated. Clint didn’t move. It wasn’t a question for him to answer. “Tell me who cages the Hawk.”

Clint tried to clamp down on the information. For a moment he thought he would be able to resist, but then, _Tell him about the one Thor calls Son of Coul._  The Tesseract instructed him and he found the words pouring from his lips.

“I joined SHIELD ten years ago. The man who recruited me did so by shooting me in the leg and telling me if I thought I could run from him I was sorely mistaken. ‘Bout a year ago I told him the same thing…”

The words spilled from Clint’s mouth like a broken faucet. He found moments where he could resist, but then he would spill what he had been holding.  Details about his developing relationship with Phil spilled from him, until he reached the end.

“I’ll protect you.” He finished. “That’s the last thing he said to me.”

Loki stared for a few moments.  “I remember this Son of Coul. He was the one who held Thor when he was sent to Midgard.”

“Yeah.”

“A man in a position of power over you.”

“I was always a reacher.” Even with the Tesseract’s blue haze, Clint’s snark came through.

“Hmmmm…” Loki mused. He backed away from Clint slowly, a dark glint in his eyes.

 _He will take the Son of Coul from you_. The Tesseract whispered.

 

*

 

Clint knew that Loki planned to be captured; he knew that less than four hours after Loki was taken to the Helicarrier, Clint would launch an assault to rescue him and get the scepter back. He had planned to release the Hulk, SHIELD would be distracted between the raging monster and one of their turbines being down.

He hadn’t planned for the Black Widow. Natasha was supposed to be in Russia on some kind of super-important intel gathering mission. She had been radio silent for two weeks, no way to contact her. (Of course, Clint still fired her obnoxious emails during his boring-ass shifts at P.E.G.A.S.U.S. anyways.)

But he knew her footsteps behind him and whirled. They fought in a way that they never had before, not even when she thought that he would kill her seven years ago. Perhaps because then she had been secretly hoping that she was right. She had been tired of running.

Even when they sparred, they had held back slightly, both knowing how deadly one accidental uncontrolled hit could be. This was something else.

When his head clanged on the metal railing, Clint felt the blue slip. Suddenly standing was hard; he slipped as he tried to stand. And when he faced her he tried to communicate what he needed with one word. “Natasha?” _Stop me. Stop me. Stop me._

Her fist slammed into his head again and he dropped.

Finally, she put him down.

 

*

 

Phil was dying. He knew that.

His back was to the wall, and he could feel warmth cascading down his back as well as his chest. Loki had been blasted through the wall, it was the best he could do. He just hoped that it would make a difference. He heard that Clint was headed this way, that Natasha was moving to intercept. Their channel was still open, he heard a loud clang and when he heard Clint’s voice, he closed his eyes, focusing on the small device in his ear.

 _“Natasha?_ ”

Another loud clang.

“I’ve got him.” Natasha said. “Barton’s down.”

“Natasha.” Phil said. “Is he?”

“He recognized me. He’s alive.” She responded. “I’m going to need some help moving him. Ублюдок is heavy.”

“Okay.” Phil let out a long breath. “Tasha, when he wakes tell him. . . Tell him, I love him.”

There wasn’t a response for a long moment.

“Coulson?”

“I’ve been stabbed.” He said simply.

She swore and immediately radioed for medical.  “Don’t you dare.”

“Clocking out.” He said softly. “I’m sorry. Shot Loki though. But I heard him . . .” Fury burst into the room then. He knelt in front of Phil. “Sorry boss. He rabbited.”

“Just stay awake. Eyes on me!” Fury tried to catch Coulson’s wavering gaze.

“No. I’m clocked out here.” He managed.

“Not an option.”

“It’s okay boss. This was never going to work if they didn’t have something to…” He slowed, the final word not crossing his lips. Fury stood as the medical team came in, understanding blooming in his mind. He opened a channel across the ship.

“Agent Coulson is down.”

He watched the medics work for a few minutes, making a decision. “They called it.” He turned away and went to the room Phil shared with Natasha and Clint. The cards. That might work. Phil would probably be furious, but Fury let some blood drip onto them before going back to the bridge. He had what he needed to unite the Avengers.

 

*

 

The next time Clint was conscious, he was strapped to a medical table. He struggled against the restraints, blue skewering his vision. The only thing that broke through was Natasha’s red hair. Red, practically the opposite of blue. What was the word for that? Complementary?

 _She does not complement me._ The Tesseract whispered. Hawkeye sniggered at that.

“She is far better than you.” He responded. The flicker in Natasha’s eyes told him he had spoken that out loud, but he didn’t care.

_There is no mortal better than me._

“I can think of a few.” Hawkeye hissed through his teeth. He felt the battle the Tesseract fought in his mind. And for the first time, he could feel that he actually stood a chance. This was his chance to finally fight properly. No more small rebellions, this was the revolution.

_They cannot offer you the truth that I can._

“No. You don’t offer truth. You demand control. That control tells me what you want me to believe is truth. But I won’t. It’s not truth.”

_You are Clinton Francis Barton. Born to Edith and Harold Barton. Your father was a drunk, your mother a weak woman. They died when you were six. After that you apprenticed to The Swordsman, and later Trickshot. Your brother also took up alcohol. He only beat you a few times, but he took to beating girls._

_Once he found you with another teenager, a boy. He hit that boy until he could no longer see, and he never saw again. You often thought of killing him for that._

“Shut up!” Clint raged. He pulled against the restraints, but even his strength could not break the titanium laced bonds.

_Eleven years ago you were recruited to SHIELD by Agent Phillip Coulson. Two years after that you recruited Natalia Alianova Romana, known as the Black Widow. You slept with her fourteen times before she ended the relationship. It took you four months to come to the conclusion that she was correct._

“Technically it was only two times that she slept with me.” He snarked.

Natasha visibly twitched at that. She seemed to register that he was talking about her, if not to her. “Actually it was only once. You fell asleep the first time, I didn’t.”

Clint didn’t exactly hear her right away, but her voice came filtered through the blue after a minute. “Not even twice.” He said to the Tesseract. “You don’t give the truth.”

 _You love Phillip Coulson_. The Tesseract responded. Those were words he hadn’t yet been able to say to Phil. Not in the way he had wanted. He was too fucking guarded, and Phil knew whether Clint said it or not. At least, that’s what Clint told himself.

The Tesseract may have thought those would be the trump words. But all they did was made Clint fight even harder. He would be damned if she said them before he was able to.

He screamed. It felt like hours that he screamed, until his voice was gone and he had lost five pounds in sweat.

He screamed until the blue was gone and everything was clear again. After he was quiet for several minutes, Natasha spoke.

“Clint, you’re going to be alright.”

“You know that? Is that what you know?” Clint whispered in response. He snickered, still straining against the restraints. “I’ve got… I’ve got no window. I have to flush him out.” He babbled.

Natasha filled a glass of water, assured that he was now with her, not speaking to the blue demon in his mind.

“You gotta level out.  It’s gonna take time.”

“I don’t understand.  I . . .” He continued in babbling circles. “Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out? Stuff something else in? You know what it’s like to be unmade?”

“You know that I do.” She answered.

Slowly Tasha talked him down, helped him reorient himself to this world. The helicarrier was still flying. Loki was gone with his staff. Dr. Banner was gone, and with him went the hope of finding the Tesseract. Stark might be able to do something, but all they had was New York, and it was a pretty big place. Captain America was on the helicarrier.

Clint noticed she was avoiding something. Noticed that even though he had probably been in this room for hours, it was only her and him.

“Where’s Phil?” He asked. Natasha stilled. There was his answer.

“Did I-?” Clint choked. The water he had managed to drink roiled in his stomach. The floor seemed to drop out from under him.

“No. Loki.”

And then Clint couldn’t stop the roiling.  He dragged himself to the bathroom, barely making it to the steel toilet to empty his stomach. Bile bit at his throat even after he stopped throwing up. He didn’t cry. He couldn’t cry. But he could keep dry heaving.

It took him a minute to realize he was panicking. Hyperventilating. Christ, he needed a paper bag to breathe into like a child.

Natasha was at his back with a small cup of water. “Clint.”

He wheezed in and out, trying to get enough air. But Phil was dead. Phil was dead. Phil was dead and it was his fault. Stupid Loki.

And then the image of Loki kissing him flashed into his head and he turned to dry heave again. The god’s tongue in his mouth and Clint couldn’t breathe, couldn’t breathe.

He blacked out.

Natasha kept him from giving himself a black eye on the floor. He woke a minute later with his head on her lap, her fingers carding through his hair.

“Breathe.” She instructed. He hadn’t realized that he was holding his breath. He let a shaky exhale out. “And in.” She coached.

Slowly he established a steady rhythm, not moving from his position.

He didn’t cry. He had panicked and thrown up and blacked out. But he didn’t cry. And now, here he was on the bathroom floor with Natasha.

“I’m going to kill him.” Clint said finally. She didn’t respond. They continued to sit together for a few more minutes. Then Natasha’s right hand twitched. Someone was talking in her ear.

“Captain America is en route.” She said. Clint started getting up.

“Time to end this.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End A/N - Google is translating my occasional Russian bits for Natasha for me. Ублюдок = Bastard
> 
> And hooray for DreadfulDragon becoming my beta! The quality should definitely be going up from this chapter out. As always though, all mistakes are my own.


	4. Battle of New York

When he crashed through the window he thought he heard Phil’s scolding voice for a moment. 

“Talk to me Barton.” 

His back arched and he felt the glass shards digging into his forearms, but he couldn’t stop the words from echoing in his mind. 

“Ran out of ammo.” He murmured, settling into the floor. “Got to cover sir.”

But nobody answered him. His comm had fallen out during his roll, it was somewhere amongst the glass. There was silence for a long moment. Not the deaf silence he knew, that was still gone. Loki’s power seemed to have healed him. Poor recompense for losing control over his entire being. Even poorer for losing Phil. He missed the way the world could be muffled. Nothing to distract from his sight. 

Nothing could distract Clint now though. He was out of ammo. The glass was cutting into his skin and he felt exhaustion tug at his muscles. He had nothing left to go on, had been running on E for the past hour. Nat had said something about being able to close the portal just before he jumped. She would find a way, hell if she didn’t then surely Stark would.

He heard a low whistle.That had to be Iron Man. Then there was silence. So much silence.

Curiosity and the understanding that somehow the nuke was gone got the better of him. He rolled away from the glass and made his way towards the broken window. He caught the blur of motion that was the Hulk landing with what looked like a toy Iron Man under his arm. Thor tore the helmet off, there’s a long second of silence until the Hulk roared again, and Clint can see the jerk of Iron Man. Good, he’s alive. Even if the bastard annoyed the ever living hell out of Coulson, Clint kinda liked him. 

Clint watched as Thor and Cap helped Tony up. His hand twitched against his bow. Should he join them? How could he join them? He was stuck in this building which was liable to collapse pretty soon. Clint glanced down at the glass, finding his lost comm unit. 

“Tash?” He said gruffly after adjusting the unit.

“Ублюдок” She swore. He let himself grin for a moment. “Where were you?” 

“Went through a window. Comm fell out.” He admitted. “Any chance I can snag a lift?” 

“Thor’s on his way.” 

Clint grimaced. He would have preferred Tony, but he supposed the suit might not be the most flight capable Avenger at the moment considering the way he crashed. 

Naturally, Thor created another opening through a nearby window. 

“Hawkeye.” He greeted. “The Lady Widow has instructed me to retrieve you.”

“Yup, where’re we headed?” Clint approached Thor.

“The tower of Iron Man to retrieve Loki.” 

That, Clint could get on board with.

 

Thor brought Clint to the ground where Cap and Hulk were getting Ironman to his feet.  

“Nat?” Clint checked. “What’s your 20?”

“Still on the roof. Selvig is dismantling his device. Where are we headed?” 

Tony answered. “JARVIS says our little problematic child is currently in my penthouse.” Clint glanced up at the penthouse in question. 

“In what kind of condition?” Clint spotted a dead alien with one of his arrows sticking out of it a dozen yards away. He trotted towards it, happy to have at least one more shot at Loki.

Tony listened for a second to JARVIS before snickering. “Apparently he’s made quite an impression in my floor.” 

The Hulk then snorted. Clint assumed he was missing the joke. “How are we getting up there?” He pulled the shaft free, examined it and pulled the damaged arrowhead free. He still had plenty of back-ups and chose another explosive tip, screwing it into place as he walked back. 

“I have a private elevator.” Tony responded. 

And that was how Clint ended up in an elevator with Tony Stark, Thor, and Captain America. Hulk had snorted again before launching himself up at the building as the remaining four strolled in through the (broken) front door. If any of the Stark security remained, they didn’t make themselves known as they walked across the deserted lobby.

“Clearly I need to re-evaluate my security staff.” Tony muttered in a tone that wasn’t actually meant to not be heard. 

  
  


Loki was captured. The invasion was over. The Avengers sat down together to eat shawarma, which turned out to be a meat thing that wasn’t half bad. Natasha balanced between Clint’s legs on the chair as they all ate in silence. 

Outside was an entirely different matter. Thousands of people were already beginning clean-up measures, trying to get the streets passable and the businesses back into a semi-decent shape. 

And Coulson was dead.

Clint was barely functioning. Natasha was directing his every step. Sit down, eat the shawarma, don’t speak much. That last one was his own choice. She tried to coax him out, but didn’t get anything more than grunts and brief answers. And she let him be surly. He was upright. The city was still here. His… boyfriend… lover… his Phil was dead. He got to be surly. 

The door behind them opened. “Agent Barton. Agent Romanov.” Jasper Sitwell strode in, not looking surprised at all to find them eating with two superheroes, a god, and a man who semi-regularly turned into a giant green rage monster. 

“Thank you for the meal boys.” Natasha stood, pulling Clint up with her. “Let’s not do this again sometime.”

“Captain Rogers.” Jasper continued. “If you would come with us.”

Tony stood then. “And who are you?”

“Agent Jasper Sitwell.” Jasper responded, unruffled by Tony’s accusing tone. “I’m here to take Agents Barton, Romanov, and Captain Rogers back to base.”

“And then what?”

“And then they will be debriefed.” This was fairly standard, and also very brief.“That is all you need to know Stark.”

“Like hell it is.” Tony trusted SHIELD about as far as he could throw the Hulk without his armor. “You’re going to disappear them into your organization. And what’re you going to do with Legolas? First, I was told he was with Loki, then suddenly he was fighting with us, and I’m all for the stone-age weaponry but what the fuck is happening?”

“Stark.” Steve stood, “This isn’t your place.”

“Fuck that. My place is wherever I damn well want it to be.”

“You can’t buy your way through this one Stark. SHIELD won’t tolerate-”

“Did anyone notice how I just saved New York? Maybe even the world? I think I have the right to demand what happens to my teammates.”

Clint’s eyes narrowed at being called Stark’s teammate. One day of fighting did not mean they were teammates. He and Natasha and Phil were teammates. Hell, Sitwell and Hill were his teammates. He was an agent of SHIELD, he wasn’t part of this team of super humans. The Avengers Initiative was a project that had been set aside; it might have worked for a day but that didn’t mean anything more. 

But then, maybe Tony wasn’t talking about him. It was well known that Howard Stark had been obsessed with finding Captain America. That was almost certainly the reason for the outburst.

Before Clint could ponder anything further, Jasper’s voice broke through. “Barton. Romanov. Soup’s on.”

Clint was on his feet immediately, gripping Natasha’s elbow to make sure she stayed upright. Her ankle was almost certainly fractured, but nobody but him had noticed the slight limp. Sitting and eating had likely dropped her adrenaline levels, she’d be feeling it more now than before. 

Soup’s on. Coulson’s code for “get your ass to base now.” Clint didn’t know that Sitwell knew it. But clearly Coulson had given it to him at some point. Sitwell turned and Clint and Natasha followed. Cap looked lost for a moment before following.

“You’re just going to go with him?” Tony’s jaw dropped slightly. 

“Soup’s on.” Clint responded, borderline on cheery. It had to be the exhaustion. Had he slept when he was with Loki? He didn’t think he had.

“Who gives a fuck about soup?”

Sitwell held the door open for the two agents and the super soldier. Clint and Natasha pulled each other to the waiting SHIELD SUV. They sat together in the back while Steve and Sitwell took the two seats at the front. 

“How did you know?” Natasha asked after they had pulled away from the curb. 

“Coulson had instructions that dispatched automatically upon his…”  Sitwell paused for a long moment. “Incapacitation. He gave me the code.”

“What else did he give you?” Clint asked, simultaneously wondering _ What did he leave for me? _

“Instructions.” Sitwell stopped, clearly he would not be giving them anything beyond that.

“Coulson… He meant a lot to you.” Steve said. “And to Tony.”

“Once a recruit of Coulson’s always a recruit of Coulson’s.” Clint said, not mentioning Cap’s shift to Stark’s first name.

“Coulson recruited Tony?”

“More or less.” 

“He said he watched me… when I was coming out of the ice.”

Clint snickered a bit. “Yeah, kind-of. Coulson has been a Captain America fanboy since he was like a fetus.” He paused. “Had been.”

“He would shoot you for calling him a fanboy.” Sitwell offered from the driver’s seat.

“Doesn’t make it any less true.”

They all fell into silence again. Sitwell navigated the crowded and blockaded streets.  The only time he was stopped, he rolled down his window just enough to hold out a SHIELD badge. They were let through. 

When they finally stopped, there was a Quinjet ready for them. Clint pulled Natasha out and slung an arm around her hip. Had he been anyone else, she would have dropped them. As it was she settled for a glare while allowing him to take the weight off her damaged ankle. She didn’t need him to carry her, but she let him anyway.

“Are you alright Agent Romanoff?” Steve’s brow furrowed with concern. 

“He’s just clingy.” Natasha said as Clint pulled her up the gangplank and settled her into a seat. Clint went for the pilot’s seat automatically but found it occupied. A tall Asian woman looked at him coolly. 

“Agent May.” Clint said, refraining from saying her nickname. 

“Barton.” She responded. She didn’t move, didn’t call him Agent. Clint knew a show of force when he saw one. The hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle up. 

“You’re not authorized for flight.” Sitwell said when Clint didn’t turn away for a long moment. Clint looked between May and Sitwell before grabbing the med kit and going back to Natasha. The gangplank rose and he planted himself on the floor in front of her to help pull off her boot.

He didn’t have control issues. He knew where they were going, there was no  _ reason _ for him to be huffy about this. The fight was over, but his hands still twitched with the memory of the last time he had been in a Quinjet not piloted by himself. 

“Shouldn’t you be buckled in?” Steve asked from his seat across from Natasha. Clint snickered and didn’t say anything else as he inspected Natasha’s ankle. She had braced and wrapped it for the fight, but he tugged away the wrap and found it a swollen purple mess. He tugged an ice pack out of the medkit, cracked it to get the chemicals working to make it cold. 

The plane took off, and Clint’s footing was just as sure as he stood to inspect her face and head. “Sit down.” Natasha said after he had ensured no real damage had occurred. 

“Gotta get that ankle elevated.” He muttered looking around for something to prop her foot on.

“Then be my footrest.” She kicked at him with her good foot and he grinned before sitting back down at her feet, placing her ankle on his shoulder and the ice pack onto the ankle. He was faced out so he could see Steve and Sitwell. Steve looked perplexed, while Sitwell hadn’t even raised an eyebrow, used to Natasha and Clint’s odd relationship. 

“ETA?” Clint asked after Natasha had clearly settled, and kicked him in the kidneys a bit with her good foot. 

“Two hours. Plenty of time to start a sit-rep.” Jasper pulled out a recorder from his inner pocket.  “Starting with the borrowing of a SHIELD Quinjet without proper authorization.” 

“I authorized it.” Steve interjected.

“You do not have SHIELD authorization-”

“I think you’ll find I do.” Authority radiated from Steve’s voice, and Clint recalled that he followed this guy into battle a few hours ago.

Jasper apparently got the hint. “Starting with when you decided to leave the helicarrier.” He amended. 

Clint shifted for a moment before starting. “Cap told us to suit up…”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ублюдок - Bastard
> 
> Many thanks to DreadfulDragon for the continued beta work. You're awesome
> 
> Shout-out to Rose for the idea to bring in Melinda May. 
> 
> And apologies for the long time between updates. Graduate school is hard. You can always find me on tumblr though as YesThatMadHatter (Shameful plug is shameful)


	5. On the Helicarrier

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - It’s been a hot second since this was updated. I got caught up in Thesis and life and all sorts of things, but here is a short update. I’ve finally figured out where this fic is going so hopefully the next update will be within the next two weeks or so. Thanks for reading!

In retrospect, seeing Melinda should have been a warning. They wouldn’t have called in “The Calvary” for a simple pick-up.

The Quinjet landed a few minutes after Clint and Natasha had finished their debriefs with Jasper. Clint remained unbuckled at her feet as they touched down.

“May’s still smooth on the stick,” he commented.  The landing was almost flawless. (Nearly as flawless as it would have been if he’d been piloting.) He shifted, allowing Natasha to set her ankle down, sliding the icepack off. Clint rolled his neck, popping a few joints before standing. 

He pulled Natasha to a standing position as the door began to lower and was watching her face for signs of pain when he felt her tense. Immediately, he set himself in front of her, left foot forward and shoulders lined up. Years of fighting together told him that if she tensed, he tensed.

A row of guns greeted him. A dozen SHIELD agents pointing weapons into the belly of the Quinjet. Jasper spoke immediately. “Woah, wait. What the hell?”

“Orders.” Melinda came up from behind them, two guns in her hands, both pointed at Clint. “Agent Barton is to report straight to a cell.” 

“Whose orders?” Steve- no,  _ Captain America _ , said sharply, his shield ready in hand. He instinctually took Clint’s six, so that the three Avengers were forming a loose circle. Clint’s eyes flitt around, calculating trajectories. There was no way that shield could protect them all. There were too many guns from too many directions. His damn bow was in its case under the seat, his quiver nearly empty anyway. 

“Director Fury.”

“Fury released Agent Barton to my supervision.” Cap responded. 

“And now he’s being taken back.” Melinda said. “He needs to be evaluated-”

“He brought Loki in.” Natasha argued.

“Loki has been brought in before. We have no way of knowing that Barton is back under his own control. Or if he was ever out of control to begin with.” 

Natasha’s eyes flashed, hot and angry. “If you think-“

“It’s fine.” Clint interrupted. 

“Barton, you don’t have to do this.” Cap sounded like he only half believed what he was saying. He had come to the same conclusion as Clint. 

“Yes, I do. Cap, can you make sure she gets to medical?” Clint started to nudge Natasha towards him. She stiffened, glaring at Clint. He tapped his forefinger in a quick morse code against her side.  _ Trust _ . After a long moment, she pushed away from him. 

Cap started forward to help her but she bared her teeth. “I’m fine.” She hissed, staggering slightly as she pushed forward down the gangplank. Two agents parted to let her pass. Cap stared after her for a moment before looking back at Clint. 

“Get her to medical. She’s almost as bad as me sometimes.” Clint tried for a joking tone, but it wasn’t entirely successful. 

Steve’s eyes darted around at the guns pointed at Clint. “Stand down.” He said to them. 

Melinda was the first to holster her weapons. The rest followed suit. Steve nodded once then turned to Sitwell. “Stay with him.” Then he followed Natasha, jogging to catch up to her lopsided walk. 

Melinda strode forward and Clint let out the breath he had been holding. Jasper stepped closer to Clint, taking a position just behind and to the right of him, wary of his dominant side. One of the agents in front of them approached with a pair of handcuffs.

Clint chuckled. “Really, you think those will do anything to slow me down if I wanted to break free?” 

He felt Melinda’s eyes roll and the Agent seemed to rethink the cuffs. “Come on, Barton.” Melinda pushed him forward. 

“To the brig?” He asked, finally stepping off the quinjet ramp and angling towards the entrance to the lower decks.

“Got it in one.” 

“Always do.”

 

*-*-*

 

“Sir? Agent Barton is being taken down to the Brig by Agent May.” 

Director Fury nodded at Agent Galaga. “Have Sitwell brief Hill before she goes in. Where’s Romanoff?”

“Right here.” Natasha appeared in the doorway to the bridge, still limping. Steve was directly behind her.

“This is not medical, Romanoff.” He muttered, but he didn’t appear to be surprised. Instead, he automatically took point on her left side. 

“Rogers is right, this isn’t medical.” Fury said, taking a few steps towards them. His right hand may have drifted towards his sidearm, but Natasha’s eyes narrowed at him and he thought better of it.  

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Trying to get my ship back up and running. Rooting out those idiots that sent the nuke to New York on the World Council’s orders, I could use you for interrogation once you have that ankle taken care of.”

“With Barton. What do you think you’re doing with Barton?”

“Agent Barton is being held until we can determine his mindset. We have no way of knowing if the fight is actually over. We caught Loki once, you might remember.”

“But that was easy the first time.” Steve interjected.

“I seem to recall you saying otherwise.” Fury sat at the large conference table, attempting to appear as ease as the two Avengers stood in front of him.

“That was before fighting the Chitauri today.” 

“We almost lost the city. Not to mention Stark.” Natasha added. 

“Since when do you give a shit about Stark?” Fury asked.

Natasha shrugged. “He grew on me. But you’re getting away from the subject.” 

Fury sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. Natasha would be like a dog with a bone with this. “Hill will debrief-”

“You mean interrogate. He’s already been debriefed by Sitwell.”

“Hill will  _ talk to _ Agent Barton and attempt to ascertain whether he is still under Loki’s control.”

“Shouldn’t Thor be brought in on this?” Steve was thoughtful. “He’ll know more than anyone else on how to tell if Hawkeye is under his own control again.” 

“Thor is guarding Loki. Look,” Fury leaned forward, fingers forming a tent, “Give us time. If Barton is under his own control-”

“He is.”

“Then he will understand the need for us to be sure.” Fury slaps a hand against the conference table. He’s done explaining himself. “Romanoff, get your ass to medical before I send-” He stops.

“Before you send Coulson? That’s what you were going to say right? The only person who could ever control Strike Team Delta.” Natasha’s words are as cold as the country she came from. “And he’s gone.” 

She turned away from Fury then, unable to look at him. “Come on Steve. I’ll give you a tour of Medical.”

“I’ve actually been there before,” he muttered, but followed Natasha anyway.

 

*-*-*

 

Clint had to say, this was the first time he’d ever been in interrogation and had so many devices pointed at him. Some were cameras. One was hooked up to the various electrodes all over his body. Others he had no idea what they did. Deputy Director Hill sat across from him with two science agents on either side of her. They took notes and she looked slightly bored, as she often did in interrogation.

“Do you remember what you did while you were under Loki’s control?”

Clint gritted his teeth. “Yes.”

“Everything?”

“Much as anyone under mind control can, I think. It hasn’t really happened much before, has it?” Clint didn’t hold back his sarcasm. Hill exhaled a little sharply through her nose, irritated.

“Can you tell me what happened to your hearing aids?”

Clint paused, the memory flashing through him. “Loki crushed them.”

“But you were on comms during the battle.”

“Correct.”

“So you can hear now?”

“Apparently.” 

“Can you tell me how?”

“Not really.” Clint attempted to lean back in his chair, but it was bolted to the floor and thus didn’t go anywhere. “He said . . . said I was damaged. Then he did some wavy stuff with his hands and . . . ” He snapped his fingers. “I could hear.” 

“Is it permanent?” 

“I don’t know.”

“So it hasn’t worn off at all since you say you were released from Loki’s control.” 

“No- oh.” Clint stopped. That was why they still believed he was under Loki’s control. If Loki’s spell or whatever was still working on his hearing, it stood to reason that he was actually still under Loki’s control. 

Hill nodded when she saw Clint make the connection. “So you see why we can’t have you roaming about.” 

“So I’m just stuck here forever? I’m not under Loki’s control.”

“Thor will be moving him off-world tomorrow. We will go from there.” Hill stood up then. “You’ll be moved to a more secure room shortly.” She walked up to the door and it opened automatically for her. 

Clint sighed and looked at all the devices observing him. He tugged slightly at the cuffs chaining him to the table. He could easily get out of them. He knew it was a test. If he slipped them and left, he was under Loki’s control. If he stayed like a good agent, he wasn’t. 

If Phil were here he would know it was the other way around. 

If Phil were here.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Theo for being my first reader and cheering this work on. All flaws are my own.
> 
> And special thanks to DreadfulDragon for beta-ing this hot mess


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